September 25, 2009

A Montgomery County shelter, located in New Jersey, tries to allay pet lovers' fears with a Web site notice. (Zootoo Pet News Image)

Pet Adoptions Soar as Internet 'Kill' Rumor Goes Viral: Jumping from Facebook to news Web sites, a "kill" rumor has adoptions at animal shelters soaring -- as long as they're named "Montgomery." The federal government is concerned -- but shelter staff are thanking their lucky Internet angels.

NEW YORK -- A shelter's plea to save animals went viral this week, leading to 19 "Montgomery County" shelters nationwide being inundated with panicked phone calls about pets being euthanized. Other concerned citizens using search engines to learn more about those claims were then hit with malicious code, or "vandals."

Wednesday, the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued a bulletin warning users of these vandals -- a new breed of Internet threat which evades conventional anti-virus software.

"Users seeking details on rumors about the closure of a 'Montgomery County Animal Shelter may be led to click on illegitimate search results which attempt to download malicious code," US-CERT said in the released alert. "The rumors are being spread via e-mail, forums, and social networking sites, usually taking the form of a plea for readers to contact the shelter and adopt animals prior to the shelter's closing."

US-CERT, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said it is "monitoring the situation."

Amy Kudwa, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security told Zootoo Pet News, "e-mails were being spread organically, not by an automated system.

"They thought it was true and were forwarding it to their friends," she said. "These sites with malicious codes have been identified and advised."

One of those organically spread mass e-mails read: "An animal shelter in New Jersey is closing tomorrow. They currently have 80 dogs and 30 cats. They are adopting animals for free tomorrow between 12 and 4 p.m. All the remaining animals will be euthanized."

The note ended with a frowning emoticon.

"Ironically, we only had one animal for adoption on site that day," Stephanie D. Carey, health officer and director of animal control for the Montgomery Township Health Department in Belle Mead, NJ, said of the shelter which can hold only about five dogs and 10 cats at a time.

The Silver Lining

Nevertheless, thanks to the rumor spreading to various individual pages on Facebook, the Web-based social networking community of 65 million users, the shelter began receiving a trickle of phone calls on Tuesday evening, rising to a flood of calls on Wednesday.

"It exploded overnight, and by 7 a.m. we had 200 calls, and another 100 by later that morning," said Carey, who estimates the shelter had received about 1,000 calls by Wednesday's close.

"There were a few angry people, but an overwhelming majority were concerned and just wanted to help," she said. "About 100 people showed up at our shelter yesterday afternoon. Usually we get three adopters a week."

Carey's office referred prospective adopters to the Animal Alliance of New Jersey. "The animal alliance got a lot of phone calls, so it turned out to be a good thing."

Albeit about 10 animals were in the shelter at the time, and all happened to be on a five-day hold, so none of the pets could be adopted out. But any unclaimed pets are assured a home now, Anne Trinkle, AANJ executive director and founder, said.

The Lambertville-based rescue group benefited from a 25 percent jump in people asking to adopt Wednesday. The New Jersey alliance fielded more than 100 general requests that day alone.

"We're thrilled and grateful for whatever motivates people to flock to this agency to adopt," Trinkle said. "There was definitely a silver lining to the misinformation being spread out there."

Approximately 19 shelters in Montgomery counties or townships nationwide benefited from the euthanasia scare.

Scott Missildine, volunteer coordinator of the Montgomery Humane Society, in Montgomery, Ala., also experienced the upside of Internet rumor.

"All day the phones were ringing," he said, estimating that the shelter received one phone call about every six minutes. "People were worried about us closing."

But Missildine was happy people were so worried -- even if it was from a false sense of urgency.

"It did help publicize that we're still here," Missildine said. "One person came down to look at the dogs. He was here for 40 minutes. He didn't leave with a dog, but I have a feeling he'll be back."

How the Rumor All Started

Concern about Montgomery shelters throughout the country may have originated when word went out from the Montgomery County Humane Society in Texas late August that the contract between it and the town of Conroe would end Sept. 21. Some animal activists warned what would happen if the society didn't adopt out all its animals.

Others went so far as to maintain that euthanasia was a definite outcome -- with the humane society itself directly responsible for the "killing."

"Today may be the last day of life for any animal unfortunate enough to be in this shelter," Houston Pets Examiner Marguerite Matthews of the Examiner.com Web site Magritte wrote in a Sept. 19 article. "Visit the Web site of the Montgomery County Texas Humane Society and you will see well-maintained pages detailing animals available for adoption, business hours, etc. And absolutely no mention that they are permanently closing today and, according to various sources, killing any animals that have not been adopted from their facility."

In response to an article covering the Humane Society/Conroe hand-off, The Courier of Montgomery County's user "leigh" wrote, "And once the city takes it over, make no mistake, it will become a kill operation. The city mandate is to hold animals FIVE DAYS MAX before euthanasia. "

User "leigh" was correct, but didn't possess the full story. Indeed, by law, the city of Conroe does have five days to hold an animal and if by the end of five days, the animal is not deemed adoptable, it is either euthanized or sent to another adoption agency. But the humane society wouldn't have let any animals remain by the time of the hand-off.

"There are several disgruntled former volunteers in the community doing everything in their power to take over," Texas' Humane Society for Montgomery County board member Ruth Pewitt said. "Putting the animals down was never ever a consideration. That never would have happened."

Board members and volunteers would have taken animals home first, she said.

In the last week alone, Pewitt estimates, the Humane Society for Montgomery County adopted out several hundred animals, well above even its historically robust adoption rates.

When Pewitt arrived at the shelter last Saturday for its final adoption event, there were only three dogs and one cat left to be adopted. Soon, there were none.

"We had people lined up around the building," Pewitt said. "It was amazing. This wonderful community made sure these animals all got homes."

Gabrielle Jonas is a Zootoo Pet News staff reporter and can be reached at gjonas@zootoo.com.